I've been using "20L / 5G" glass carboys for a few years now, and became interested in the Fermonster 7 gallon since I do a lot of 2X IPAs and Imperial Stouts. I utilize an Inkbird temp controller together with a Fermwrap in a 5 cu/ft chest freezer to maintain temps thru the entire process.
Glass has been good to me, but I have to carry the filled carboy down an early 1900's era set of stairs into the basement, and there's a 90 deg turn at the bottom leaving me several wedge shaped steps - the perfect storm for a glass carboy catastrophe.
I was interested Fermonster for a couple of reasons including larger volume size (more headroom), lighter weight, won't shatter and send me to the ER, ease of cleaning, large top opening so I can utilize a bag for dry hopping, and price vs a stainless brew bucket. I had reservations on the wall thickness, ease of scratching (inside), and flexibility when lifting out of the keezer.
After my first brew (an IPA with Mosaic, Galaxy, and Citra hops) and pressure transfer to a CO2 purged keg, I'd like to share a few insights into my experience. Please note that YMMV, and that I am not compensated for anything I write here ...
Pros:
- after cooling my wort to 70F and racking into the Fermonster, I secured the Carboy Hauler and made the trek down the stairs and into the basement. the strap held well, and lifting into my keezer was every bit as easy as a traditional glass carboy. I never had to contemplate the my next step down would be the one sending me rushing to the ER. Ahhhh! score a point for the Fermonster.
- I utilized a silicone plug with two ports, and fitted a blow-off tube into one and a thermowell into the other. I had difficulties getting the plug to seat and stay in the orange plastic cap. each time I got it seated it would pop out then the inside wort temp dropped a couple degrees on its way from 70F to 64F. No problem at this point, since I wouldn't pitch yeast until I had a stable 64F. No points given/deducted.
- Once stable at 64F, I removed the plug and pitched yeast utilizing a sanitized funnel. this was super easy with the larger hole compared to a carboy, and I could readily use the thermowell to gently stir the yeast a bit before aerating. the added headroom was wonderful for aerating, and I didn't have the 'foam outs' I would get on a glass carboy with less headroom. score a point for the Fermonster.
- time to install that plug and close up the keezer ... but dang it, I can't get it to stay put even when there was no pressure on the blow-off tube of temp probe lead. I tried to the point where I almost pushed the plug thru the hole and into the wort, and eventually gave up after 10+ minutes of frustration. I had the plug in place to where it would keep out any solids, but it wasn't making an air-tight seal. I'm sure with some creativity at the hardware store I could create a solution to fix this, but now was not the time . take a point from the Fermonster.
- fermentation with the extra gallon of head space meant that I wasn't venting krausen during fermentation peak, and so the worst loss was nill. I typically lose at least a quart in a glass carboy. at the proper time, I raised temp from 64F to 68F without any issues. score a point for the Fermonster
- dry hopping as a breeze utilizing the hole with the loose fitting plug. carefully lift out the plug and set in sanitizer, dump in hop pellets after sanitizing the packaging, replace the plug. so much easier than a glass carboy. had I wanted to keep the hop pellets confined in a bag, it would have been easy to unscrew the lid and drop in the sanitized bag and pellets. score a point for the Fermonster
- after a couple days it was time to cold crash. here is where my non air tight plug had its biggest fault - I could not keep pressure sealed, and had to resort to utilizing the CO2 generated during fermentation plus a CO2 purge in the small 5 cu/ft keezer to do what I could to mitigate the potential for O2 sucking into the Fermonster during the cooling process. I'd like to think I did a good enough job purging the small volume in my keezer, but there would have been no way to do this in a larger keezer or upright freezer. the lid gasket appears to be able to hold pressure/vacuum, so that part of the design is solid - it's the plug fit that caused me grief here. take a point point from the Fermonster
- after a couple days at 33F I added gelatin finings, and the clear plastic was wonderful is observing when sediment/yeast/haze had dropped and it was time to keg. score a point for the fermonster
- lifting the Fermonster out of the keezer using the Carboy Hauler compressed the sides a bit, and this caused some atmosphere suck back when I set it onto my keezer top. this is one key place where a glass carboy excels over the thin plastic walls of the Fermonster. using a self priming pump would eliminate this point of O2 exposure, but not everybody has one of these around so most people will experience this when getting ready for a gravity transfer. take a point from the Fermonster
- I was utilizing an in-line stainless screen to keep any hop bits that might want to sneak into the keg during transfer, so I opted to perform a pressure transfer. I made use of a second solid lid that I modified with two grommets - one for the CO2 input, and one for the stainless racking cane outlet. IF I didn't have the in-line screen, this would have gone beautifully ... but I wasn't able to hold the 3psi of CO2 pressure I needed to push thru the screen and into the keg. I lost a lot of CO2 thru the racking cane grommet - but I'll own full responsibility here, as the lid gasket held pressure just fine. no points either way here, as this is the second most important scenario in me choosing to give the Fermonster a go (if a screen filter isn't important to you, a point could go to the Fermonster)
- lastly there's the cleanup ... a soaking with warm water and 30 minutes later I was able to utilize a soft washrag to gently address any stubborn spots where the krausen was still clinging onto the inside. easiest cleanup I ever had. score a solid point for the Fermonster
So there you have it. overall I like the Fermonster quite a bit, and with a second go at getting the lid configured for a pressure transfer at 3psi all will be golden except for that dratted plug not achieving an air tight fit, and the atmosphere suck back when lifting out of the keezer. the latter could be remedied with a pressure transfer, so there's hope for that as well.
I like the Fermonster and will choose it for my next batch. I have a couple weeks to get the lid issues worked on, and maybe I'll find ways that others have remedied this issue that will also work for me. YMMV of course, as your workflows will likely be different than mine (and you may not care as much about keeping O2 out as I do)
Glass has been good to me, but I have to carry the filled carboy down an early 1900's era set of stairs into the basement, and there's a 90 deg turn at the bottom leaving me several wedge shaped steps - the perfect storm for a glass carboy catastrophe.
I was interested Fermonster for a couple of reasons including larger volume size (more headroom), lighter weight, won't shatter and send me to the ER, ease of cleaning, large top opening so I can utilize a bag for dry hopping, and price vs a stainless brew bucket. I had reservations on the wall thickness, ease of scratching (inside), and flexibility when lifting out of the keezer.
After my first brew (an IPA with Mosaic, Galaxy, and Citra hops) and pressure transfer to a CO2 purged keg, I'd like to share a few insights into my experience. Please note that YMMV, and that I am not compensated for anything I write here ...
Pros:
- after cooling my wort to 70F and racking into the Fermonster, I secured the Carboy Hauler and made the trek down the stairs and into the basement. the strap held well, and lifting into my keezer was every bit as easy as a traditional glass carboy. I never had to contemplate the my next step down would be the one sending me rushing to the ER. Ahhhh! score a point for the Fermonster.
- I utilized a silicone plug with two ports, and fitted a blow-off tube into one and a thermowell into the other. I had difficulties getting the plug to seat and stay in the orange plastic cap. each time I got it seated it would pop out then the inside wort temp dropped a couple degrees on its way from 70F to 64F. No problem at this point, since I wouldn't pitch yeast until I had a stable 64F. No points given/deducted.
- Once stable at 64F, I removed the plug and pitched yeast utilizing a sanitized funnel. this was super easy with the larger hole compared to a carboy, and I could readily use the thermowell to gently stir the yeast a bit before aerating. the added headroom was wonderful for aerating, and I didn't have the 'foam outs' I would get on a glass carboy with less headroom. score a point for the Fermonster.
- time to install that plug and close up the keezer ... but dang it, I can't get it to stay put even when there was no pressure on the blow-off tube of temp probe lead. I tried to the point where I almost pushed the plug thru the hole and into the wort, and eventually gave up after 10+ minutes of frustration. I had the plug in place to where it would keep out any solids, but it wasn't making an air-tight seal. I'm sure with some creativity at the hardware store I could create a solution to fix this, but now was not the time . take a point from the Fermonster.
- fermentation with the extra gallon of head space meant that I wasn't venting krausen during fermentation peak, and so the worst loss was nill. I typically lose at least a quart in a glass carboy. at the proper time, I raised temp from 64F to 68F without any issues. score a point for the Fermonster
- dry hopping as a breeze utilizing the hole with the loose fitting plug. carefully lift out the plug and set in sanitizer, dump in hop pellets after sanitizing the packaging, replace the plug. so much easier than a glass carboy. had I wanted to keep the hop pellets confined in a bag, it would have been easy to unscrew the lid and drop in the sanitized bag and pellets. score a point for the Fermonster
- after a couple days it was time to cold crash. here is where my non air tight plug had its biggest fault - I could not keep pressure sealed, and had to resort to utilizing the CO2 generated during fermentation plus a CO2 purge in the small 5 cu/ft keezer to do what I could to mitigate the potential for O2 sucking into the Fermonster during the cooling process. I'd like to think I did a good enough job purging the small volume in my keezer, but there would have been no way to do this in a larger keezer or upright freezer. the lid gasket appears to be able to hold pressure/vacuum, so that part of the design is solid - it's the plug fit that caused me grief here. take a point point from the Fermonster
- after a couple days at 33F I added gelatin finings, and the clear plastic was wonderful is observing when sediment/yeast/haze had dropped and it was time to keg. score a point for the fermonster
- lifting the Fermonster out of the keezer using the Carboy Hauler compressed the sides a bit, and this caused some atmosphere suck back when I set it onto my keezer top. this is one key place where a glass carboy excels over the thin plastic walls of the Fermonster. using a self priming pump would eliminate this point of O2 exposure, but not everybody has one of these around so most people will experience this when getting ready for a gravity transfer. take a point from the Fermonster
- I was utilizing an in-line stainless screen to keep any hop bits that might want to sneak into the keg during transfer, so I opted to perform a pressure transfer. I made use of a second solid lid that I modified with two grommets - one for the CO2 input, and one for the stainless racking cane outlet. IF I didn't have the in-line screen, this would have gone beautifully ... but I wasn't able to hold the 3psi of CO2 pressure I needed to push thru the screen and into the keg. I lost a lot of CO2 thru the racking cane grommet - but I'll own full responsibility here, as the lid gasket held pressure just fine. no points either way here, as this is the second most important scenario in me choosing to give the Fermonster a go (if a screen filter isn't important to you, a point could go to the Fermonster)
- lastly there's the cleanup ... a soaking with warm water and 30 minutes later I was able to utilize a soft washrag to gently address any stubborn spots where the krausen was still clinging onto the inside. easiest cleanup I ever had. score a solid point for the Fermonster
So there you have it. overall I like the Fermonster quite a bit, and with a second go at getting the lid configured for a pressure transfer at 3psi all will be golden except for that dratted plug not achieving an air tight fit, and the atmosphere suck back when lifting out of the keezer. the latter could be remedied with a pressure transfer, so there's hope for that as well.
I like the Fermonster and will choose it for my next batch. I have a couple weeks to get the lid issues worked on, and maybe I'll find ways that others have remedied this issue that will also work for me. YMMV of course, as your workflows will likely be different than mine (and you may not care as much about keeping O2 out as I do)
